


All Roads Lead to Home

by crna_macka



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-05-11
Packaged: 2018-03-30 02:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3918883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crna_macka/pseuds/crna_macka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So what’s it like being a grandmother?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Roads Lead to Home

**Author's Note:**

> Work order fill for a [tumblr anon](http://chokingthecherry.tumblr.com/post/118643322320/doc-mechanic-and-docs-grandkids-1st-birthday): "Doc mechanic and docs grandkids 1st birthday"

It’s a long trek on foot to the legendary Clarke Griffin’s sanctuary, but when the sun is shining, Raven can cut that trip down to just a quarter of that time. She and Abby strike out before the sun has risen, taking advantage of the pre-dawn twilight to keep the trip from dragging into midday. On the edge of the desert, they stop to check the ties on the packs and cover their heads, necks, and faces. They’ve already been wearing goggles, but the added coverage is necessary, heading into the dusty waste.

Raven built this vehicle strictly for crossing open terrains, transporting individuals more so than goods. These days, she and Abby use it mainly for checking the farm fields, occasionally for visiting Clarke. Priorities being what they are, there isn’t a huge push to establish a wide road network. But it’s great for dealing with most of the desert, for the few that choose to live there. Raven drives and Abby keeps at least one arm wrapped around her, tapping against her thigh when she needs to communicate.

Any time they stop, Abby insists on sneaking a peek on the contents of her own pack, making sure the items are there and safe, double-checking when the latest stretch has seemed particularly rough.

“We didn’t lose anything,” Raven reassures her. “We didn’t forget anything.” They share a smile, knowing Abby will go through her ritual anyway.

When Clarke had her first child, Raven had teasingly asked, “So what’s it like being a grandmother?”

And Abby had responded, “It’s like my daughter needs me again.”

And although they had continued to joke about it, about Abby’s age, Raven had kept that understanding in the back of her mind. It was something new, something they didn’t talk about much.

When the second one was born, Raven had nudged Abby, joking again. “Alive with two grandkids. If Clarke has a third, you’ve set new record for the Ark-born, right? Do you win a prize?”

Abby had been so scandalized that Raven backtracked immediately, disclaiming, “Monty came up with that. He’s been spending too much time with Wick.”

“Ugh, engineers,” Abby muttered, like she’d heard Raven do a thousand times before.

Raven can’t free even one hand from the rig to squeeze Abby’s, but she does turn her head slightly and shift against the other woman’s body, trying to convey as much as possible that she’s thinking of Abby.

Abby, who has to cross a desert as unforgiving as the vacuum of outer space to connect family with home. Who drops everything when Clarke radios that someone is sick, one of the children isn’t eating, she hasn’t slept more than three hours a night this week and isn’t sure she won’t just drop dead from exhaustion. Abby, who gets nervous about birthdays, even though the children won’t remember these early ones, because she knows full well how fleeting life is.

When Raven thinks about it, she wants to stop, even though they’re less than an hour from Clarke Griffin’s encampment. She wants just a minute, even in the vastness of sand and stone, to make Abby look into her eyes and to remind her that family is no longer a scarce and fragile thing. The decisions made on the Ark aren’t decisions that need to be made on the ground.

Of every child born on Earth, Abby’s grandchildren are and always will be the safest. Their mother is a legend, their grandmother is a healer, and Raven is a genius who will devise any way possible to cross the distance in-between.


End file.
